STUFF THAT JAFFA ARE MADE OF BY JOAG

Two things happened at once. Daniel's brain made the connection that some of the words he was trying to transcribe meant that there was some kind of danger here, while simultaneously seeing Jack lean forward to touch one of the many carved tiles on the wall before them.

At the sound of the ‘click', Daniel knew that Jack was in trouble. In a smooth motion, he pivoted on one foot and threw himself at his friend. As they both went crashing into the soft sand, Daniel saw something white out of the corner of his eye. It literally flew out of newly opened hole where the tile had been moments before. As he landed on top of Jack, the younger man heard Jack grunt as the breath was knocked out of him.

Something plopped on top of Daniel's legs, and trying to disentangle himself from Jack, he instinctively kicked it away. A burning sensation suddenly enveloped his right leg just below his knee. He curled up and attempted to pull off whatever it was that had wrapped itself around him. His hands encountered a slimy, gelatinous mass affixed to his leg.

“Jesus, Daniel. What the hell were you… ” Jack's voice faded at the telltale sound of rock grinding against rock.

Daniel looked up and saw the huge doors of the crypt begin to slowly slide shut. Dust, sand and pebbles were dislodged from the ceiling and floor as the ancient slabs of rock slowly made their way along long-buried tracks in the ground. He continued to pull at the white slug-like thing, but it wouldn't budge. A part of it had affixed itself solidly to his leg on the outer part of his calf, somehow biting through his pants and into his skin and muscles. That was where the burning sensations were the strongest, and it was inexorably making its way around his leg.

“Okay, we're out of here. Let's move,” Jack yelled as their only exit was slowly being cut off. Daniel was aware of Teal'c and Carter coming from the other end of the immense crypt and heading towards the opening as Jack bent down to give Daniel a hand up. “What *is* that thing?” Jack asked with a grimace.

Still pulling at the mass stuck on his leg, Daniel stood up. It was now almost rubber-like, no longer slimy, stretching as he pulled at it. And then realized he was in trouble when part of the creature elongated itself and slithered down his leg, continuing into the soft sand.

“Jack, I'm stuck,” he said as he now pulled on the part of the creature burrowing into the sand.

“Shit,” Jack swore as he glanced at the still-moving doors. As Jack removed his knife from its sheath, Daniel saw that the doors were nearly halfway shut. Sam and Teal'c were watching by the shrinking exit, ready to leave. Jack knelt and began cutting into the mass near Daniel's leg.

The pain caught Daniel off guard. His leg spasmed as fire rose up and down the muscles. His whole leg cramped agonizingly, and he screamed when the pain suddenly swept up into his hip, throughout his chest and into his arms. He was aware of Jack holding onto him as his body convulsed in intense muscular cramps. The muscles in his back and ribs were contracting so badly that he was barely able to take a breath. He tried to curl himself as tightly as possible against the agony, struggling to breathe and ride out the pain.

- - - - - -

As the doors continued to slide shut amidst much noise and dust, Carter and Teal'c rushed to Jack's side, trying to assess Daniel's injury. Jack had dropped the knife and had caught Daniel as he collapsed with an anguished cry. His friend was struggling in his arms, small moans escaping his lips. Jack could feel Daniel's muscles actually moving beneath his hands, contracting in painful seizures. His breath was wheezing in his lungs, and his chest was straining to pull in air.

Jack eyed the exit, realizing that they would all be trapped inside this vault in less than a minute. The room slowly dimmed as the doors cut off the daylight. Streaks of light shone down from large cracks in the ceiling, now fuzzy with floating dust and sand particles, but illuminating the room enough so that they could get by without their flashlights.

“Teal'c, go outside and see if you can get the doors open from that side. If you can't, go to the village, see if you can get help. It's on your way to the Stargate.” As Jack spoke, Teal'c was rummaging through his pack. “If the villagers won't help, get Hammond to send a crew out here. And we might need another translator to read that stuff outside in order to get the doors open.”

Teal'c removed his GDO from his pack and placed it in a vest pocket. Picking up his staff weapon, he stood up, leaving his pack behind, and strode to the now almost closed doors. Before squeezing through the rapidly diminishing space, he gave his friends one last look before the doors ground shut together. Jack could tell that Teal'c had hated to leave them here, but he'd needed one of the team to apprise the SGC of what had just happened.

The deep boom of the doors coming to a close reverberated in the chamber. Jack ignored the fact that the three of them were now imprisoned inside this vault, giving Daniel his total attention.

He saw Carter remove two of the prepackaged syringes from her backpack. He shifted his friend in his arms so that he was lying on his back, cradling his head on his lap. Pulling his jacket and tee shirt aside, he exposed the top part of Daniel's arm. He held the arm still as Daniel continued to writhe in agony. The Captain quickly swiped his arm with an alcohol wipe before injecting him with half of the contents of one of the syringes. She recapped the needle as she spoke to him.

“I just gave him 5 mg Valium, sir. It should help with the cramps.”

He nodded as he laid Daniel down onto the ground. Carter removed her jacket and placed it beneath Daniel's head. Jack carefully removed Daniel's glasses, which had become skewed on his face with his thrashing about. He placed them in his vest before he joined Carter in massaging Daniel's limbs. Jack could feel the hard, knotted muscles beneath his fingers as he tried to coax them into relaxing. Daniel curled up tightly into a foetal position, and they had a hard time trying to straighten his limbs. The younger man cried out whenever they pulled too hard on resisting muscles, and both he and Carter were constantly apologizing.

After twenty minutes, when Daniel wasn't responding to the drug, Carter injected him with another 5 mg.

Another twenty minutes went by with no apparent relief. Jack's hands were aching but he continued kneading. If he thought this was painful for him, he couldn't imagine what Daniel was going through. He watched helplessly as Carter grabbed the second syringe and gave Daniel yet another 5 mg. of the stuff. Jack wasn't a doctor, but he did know that Valium could cause breathing problems. He'd heard Fraiser mention it often enough whenever she used it. He fervently wished he had a doctor here with him at the moment, along with all of the medical paraphernalia that came with the SGC's infirmary.

As Carter took Daniel's pulse, Jack moved down and eyed the thing that was still wrapped around his leg. Had Jack's attempt at removing it been the cause of this pain? Should he try and cut it off once more? He looked at his discarded knife, but before he could reach for it, Daniel's pained cry brought his attention back to his friend.

He wrapped his hands around Daniel's thigh once more and began kneading the hard bands of steel, feeling the sweat-soaked material of his pants beneath his fingers. He listened to Daniel's breathing with half an ear, waiting to hear if there would be a change. He'd been hoping that this last dose of Valium would do the trick, but Daniel appeared to be in as much agony now as he had when he'd collapsed. Fifteen mg., Jack didn't know if that was a lot or not, but it still didn't seem to be enough to do the trick.

“Sir,” Carter said, breaking Jack out of his reverie. She held another syringe in her hand, looking up to him for permission. “It's morphine. It would at least ease some of his pain.”

Damn. Morphine and Valium. Both singly could cause respiratory problems, together… He stilled his hands, feeling Daniel's body writhing.

“Carter, I don't know… what if… can't that affect his breathing?”

“Jack, please,” Daniel's whispered plea barely reached Jack's ears. He looked down at Daniel, and saw his blue pain glazed eyes begging Jack to help him.

“Do it,” Jack said, praying that he made the right choice. She quickly injected the contents and they resumed their manipulation of Daniel's taut body.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jack felt Daniel's muscles begin to loosen slightly beneath his hands. His breathing eased a bit, and he stopped thrashing and lay still. He was shivering, his body spasming occasionally as a muscle contracted involuntarily.

Carter picked up the syringe containing the Valium and looked to Jack. He nodded, knowing that as dangerous as this was, they couldn't have Daniel continue experiencing this degree of pain for very long without his going into shock.

The last dose of medication finally did the trick as Daniel managed to relax totally. Jack knew that Daniel's body was going to be very sore for days after the intense contractions his muscles had just experienced.

Jack wiped the sweat and involuntary tears from Daniel's face with his jacket's sleeve. At his touch, Daniel opened his eyes and looked at Jack.

“Better?” Jack asked.

Daniel simply nodded, too spent to speak.

“Do you need something for the pain, Daniel?” Carter asked as she rearranged her jacket beneath his head. He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes.

Jack could see that Daniel's tee-shirt and jacket were soaked in sweat. It was cool and damp in the tomb, so he eased Daniel's jacket off before wrapping him up in his own, followed by an emergency blanket from their pack. Better to try and keep him warm before he got chilled. He and Carter rolled Daniel onto his side into the recovery position, allowing him to rest.

Jack examined the creature wrapped around his friend's leg, noting that the spot where he had sliced into it had apparently healed.

Either the drugs were making Daniel sleepy or he was exhausted from his ordeal, so Jack left Carter sitting beside the dozing man. Daniel's breathing appeared to be normal for the time being, so they had probably made the right call with the meds.

Jack cautiously approached the hole where that thing had leaped out at him like a jack-in-the-box. If Daniel hadn't thrown himself at him, it would have landed on Jack right at chest level, possibly enveloping his face and neck. He shivered as he thought of that thing smothering him.

He prodded the open door with the tip of his gun, then flashed his mag light into the hole, relieved to find it empty. Jack cursed himself for his carelessness. Didn't he always tell Daniel not to go around touching things? So why did he, the one who was supposed to know better, go and press the one tile that held a picture of Earth's symbol on the Stargate? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

The whole wall was covered with glyphs, less than half of them recognizable to Jack while Daniel and Teal'c had recognized many more from their studies of the various Stargates they'd seen on their travels. Daniel had been trying to translate the text above the tiles when Jack, out of boredom, had foolishly touched the damn thing, triggering some sort of booby trap.

The people in the nearby village had given them directions to this abandoned tomb when Daniel had questioned them about ancient writings. They had said something about rites being performed here generations ago, but these had been discontinued when their interest in the old gods had waned. More than likely it was after the Goa'uld had abandoned this planet for who knew what reason. All he knew was that this place was now taboo to the inhabitants. And from what had just happened, he didn't blame them for steering clear of the place.

Jack hoped that Teal'c would find someone in the village who would be able to help them open the doors and get rid of this thing which had attacked Daniel. Speaking of the Jaffa … Jack flicked his radio on and tried to raise Teal'c. Static hissed from his speaker, confirming his suspicions that the radio waves wouldn't penetrate the thick stone walls. He eyed the ceiling, noting that it was very high and there was nothing with which he could try to climb onto to reach it. Those cracks were fairly large, maybe Carter could squeeze through… but there was still the question of how to get up there.

He turned his attention to the doors, trying to see if there was a lever or something that would open them. Afraid of tripping another booby trap, Jack hesitated. He cursed at his indecision, and then cautiously began running his hands over the edges of the carved wall. His fingers met with only stone and an occasional insect. There were no indications of any hidden doorknobs or release mechanisms for the massive doors.

Having gone over every inch of the doors and nearby walls without success, he made his way to Carter and Daniel. She was sitting beside him with a hand on his chest, monitoring his breathing. Jack squatted beside Daniel and attempted once again to examine the thing that had decided to make friendly with his archaeologist. It had stretched itself along the length of his leg, and it was now almost transparent. Jack could make out the faint green colour of Daniel's BDUs through its membranous body.

He pulled carefully at the thin gelatinous edge, trying to see if he could pull it off without causing Daniel more pain. It gave slightly at first, allowing an opening to be made. As Jack tried to insert a finger between it and Daniel's pants, he came across something thin and hard, almost like a needle. It was firmly embedded in Daniel's leg. With a grimace, he pushed his hand beneath the slug as far as he could reach. His fingers came across several more of these needles, or teeth, he thought with a shudder.

Pulling his hand out, Jack picked up his knife. As he tried to dislodge one of those teeth with its edge, Daniel moaned in his sleep and tried to pull his leg away. A frown marred Daniel's face for a moment and his breathing began to speed up. Jack put his knife away, realizing that his fiddling with the creature was causing it to hurt Daniel. He placed a hand on Daniel's shoulder, trying to calm his friend. Carter's eyes met his as he looked around helplessly, wishing that *something* would jump out at him and give him an idea of which direction to take next.

- - - - - -

Teal'c arrived at the Stargate slightly out of breath, having run the five miles from the village. As he slapped the glyphs on the DHD, he contemplated what the old priest had just told him. He had wasted precious time speaking to the younger priest. It was only when the elderly man had entered the room to see what the commotion was about that Teal'c was shown the scrolls. He now knew what was happening to Daniel, and unfortunately there was very little that Teal'c or his friends could do to help him. Daniel was going to have to endure this, or die.

He had debated going back to the abandoned tomb, but had decided instead that he needed to apprise General Hammond of what had occurred. And Daniel was going to need medical help very soon if the priest's recollections were correct.

He shifted the bundle of aging scrolls in one hand as he punched in SG1's code on the GDO. Wasting no time, Teal'c rushed through the wormhole and continued running as he came down the metal ramp. He glanced up into the control room, ascertaining that General Hammond was indeed there. He took the stairs two at a time in his haste to speak to the man.

- - - - - -

Daniel could feel no pain at the moment, although he remembered it very well. His body felt heavy and cumbersome, and his mind was a little foggy. This was a familiar sensation he sometimes experienced when waking up in Janet's infirmary after suffering mishaps when off world. He was a little breathless and very thirsty. Still too tired to even try and open his eyes, he listened, hoping that someone would walk by his bed soon and offer him some water. He tried to clear his throat, hoping to ease his breathing.

“Daniel?” Sam's voice penetrated the fog that was his brain and although he tried to answer her, what came out of his mouth sounded like a grunt. He opened his eyes reluctantly, and was surprised to see white sand and stone walls before him instead of crisp white sheets and the infirmary.

“Daniel, you awake?” she said again, this time closer to his ear. He turned his head slightly to face his friend, realizing then that he was lying on his side. He saw Sam before him, and a smile lit her face when he managed to focus on her.

He felt hands beneath his shoulders, turning him and lifting him off the ground. Daniel closed his eyes against the dizziness that the movement invoked. When the world stopped spinning, he was lying in a half-seated position against someone's warm chest. The position eased his breathing, and he relaxed when he heard Jack's voice just behind him.

“You back with us, Daniel?”

He licked his lips before attempting to ask for something to drink.

“J'ck.” Not so bad, better than when he'd tried to answer Sam. “Is there water?”

“Yeah, hold on.” Something wet dribbled over his lips and Daniel greedily swallowed the tepid liquid.

Blinking several times, he managed to more or less focus on the dimly lit room. There was a series of tiles with carvings on the wall beside him. Off near the side a gaping hole was evidence that one of the tiles had fallen or broken off. His gaze wandered up and from his vantage point Daniel saw what appeared to be writing in old variations of Greek and Latin, interspersed with Goa'uld. As he squinted at the wall, he realized that this was all vaguely familiar, and he wondered what it had to do with the way he was feeling now.

“What happened?” he asked as he closed his eyes when his vision blurred. He shifted slightly, trying to manoeuvre his body into a more comfortable position. His right leg wouldn't move, and he opened his eyes to look at it. When he saw the life form wrapped around his leg, he remembered everything, up to and including the intense pain it had caused.

He jerked up away from Jack, gasping as he leaned over to try and tug the thing off. He fought someone's hands which were trying to prevent him from touching the creature. Jack's arm pulled him back against his chest, feeling like a steel bar across his ribs. He tired quickly, and lay back, defeated.

He shivered, the slight exertions causing him to break out into a sweat.

“Don't touch that thing, Daniel,” Jack said as Daniel tried to catch his breath. Sam replaced the blanket which had slid off his shoulders with his struggles. He shivered again as Jack continued. “It's stuck really good to your leg. Whenever I tried to take it off, it hurt you. Just leave it alone for now, okay?”

Daniel nodded, trying to shake off the lethargy he was feeling.

“Drugged?” he asked.

“Yeah, we had to give you some Valium and Morphine.”

Valium and Morphine? Daniel turned slightly to look up at Jack's face. His friend's face was set, and although he smiled down at Daniel, it couldn't hide the fact that he was very worried. Daniel glanced at Sam and saw the same expression on her face. Oh well, at least he knew now why he was so dopey.

He looked at the writing on the wall again, realizing he had managed to translate a part of it earlier. He had deciphered the words ‘endurance' and ‘rite of passage'. This led to the suspicion that Jack had triggered some kind of ‘start' button when he'd touched the tile.

“Where's Teal'c?” he asked, realizing that the Jaffa wasn't in the room with them.

“I sent him to the village for help. He should be back any minute,” Jack said unconvincingly.

“I need to finish that translation.” Daniel raised his arm and pointed vaguely at the writings. He was surprised to feel the limb heavy and he let it fall limply back to the ground.

“You can do that later. You need to rest now,” Sam admonished, fiddling with the blanket. “You're still pretty groggy from the drugs.” She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand, before pushing his bangs away from his eyes.

“No, you don't understand.” He wanted to tell them that this was some kind of test, and that they needed to know the rules, but Sam's caresses were soothing and he really was sleepy. He closed his eyes for a moment, relaxing against Jack. “I think that the… script explains… what this is all… about.” He couldn't concentrate on what he was going to say next. He tried to open his eyes, but he just couldn't seem to find the energy to do so. The last thing he was aware of was Sam's voice sounding from very far away, saying ‘I think he's asleep.'

- - - - - - -

“I think he's asleep,” Sam said to the Colonel as she watched Daniel's breathing even out. She'd been so scared when the medications she'd been giving him hadn't done anything to relieve his pain. She swore to herself that when they'd get back to the SGC, she was going to ask for more medical training. This was so frustrating, she knew so little and had felt so helpless trying to help her ‘little brother'.

Colonel O'Neill appeared to be prepared to remain sitting with Daniel propped up against his chest, so she manoeuvred their backpacks behind him to give him a little support to lean against. Too bad the slug hadn't burrowed several more inches closer to the wall, that way the Colonel could have leaned against it for support.

Leaving Daniel in the Colonel's care, she moved off to examine the door herself. Not that she didn't trust her commanding officer's efforts, but a second look surely wouldn't hurt. Her eyes and fingers trailed down the carved walls surrounding the doors, then along the doors themselves.

Frustrated that she couldn't find any release mechanisms either, she realized that they'd most likely need Daniel's help in deciphering that writing. Hopefully there'd be a key in there telling them how to leave. She turned to look at her friend, sprawled partly on the ground and partly on the Colonel, dead to the world thanks to the drugs in his system. She glanced at the alien that had attacked him, and realized that something had changed.

She took the ten steps separating them almost at a run, throwing herself beside Daniel. She swore as she attempted to move Daniel's leg into the sunlight, the dim light not strong enough to illumine the creature properly. The beam of sunlight was too far away, the creature anchored securely in the sand preventing her from moving it into the brighter light. Spotting the discarded mag light, she reached over both Daniel and the Colonel and grabbed it. She played the light over the creature, and with a sinking heart, confirmed her suspicions.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she intoned as she began digging in the sand where the creature had tunnelled into.

“What is it?” the Colonel asked, leaning forward to see what she was doing, a hand held against the side of Daniel's head holding him securely against him.

“That thing… it's draining Daniel. I'm sorry, sir, I should have noticed this before,” she said as she flung large handfuls of sand behind her. The long thin portion of the alien continued down into the sand as she tried clearing a space around it.

“What're you talking about?” he asked in confusion.

“The color, it's changed. It's not white anymore. Look at it.”

A few seconds elapsed as he studied Daniel's leg. “Yeah, it's pinkish.”

“It's pink because it's drinking Daniel's blood!” she said between clenched teeth. The part that had burrowed itself into the sand had to be connected to something. She was down a foot now, and still no end in sight.

She could make out several thin red tubes or vessels inside the pinkish, almost translucent cylindrical part that must be carrying the blood to somewhere. Another pair of hands joined hers in removing the sand, she hadn't noticed the Colonel laying Daniel down and joining her. Her hands suddenly touched something other than sand, and she and Colonel O'Neill carefully excavated around it.

“How long do you think this has been going on?” he asked in a worried voice.

She thought carefully. Daniel wasn't showing any signs of significant blood loss at the moment, although his pulse was a little fast and he was pale, but that could be due to the after effects of the pain he'd gone through.

“It's impossible to tell, but I think it's been a slow process. We've been here,” she quickly checked her watch, “over four hours. It must have been sucking Daniel's blood all that time.”

As the area around the newly unearthed section was cleared, she could see that the alien was attached to one of several slightly larger tubes, which had a similar rubbery feel. This particular cylinder was white on one side, pink on the other, so they continued to excavate on the side of the blood flow. Three feet later, it came to an end, separating into three filaments which went off in different directions. One appeared to go straight towards the doors, another back to the wall where the alien had emerged. The third continued along the vast chamber towards the far back wall. All three were ominously tinged with pink.

Without a word they began following the filament leading to the doors, digging through the sand. It appeared to disappear into the rock itself, and Sam suspected that this was the ‘locking' mechanism for the door. Maybe it needed a certain amount of blood before it unlocked.

Returning to Daniel, Colonel O'Neill suggested she follow the strand to the carved wall while he worked on the one going into the chamber. She worked doggedly, stopping occasionally to glance at Daniel to make sure that he was okay. He slept on, oblivious to their efforts.

Wiping the sweat from her face with a gritty, sand encrusted sleeve, she sat back and examined the spot where this particular strand joined the wall. It was similar to the one attached to the door, merging into the stone itself. Sighing, she moved over and joined the Colonel in digging up the sand surrounding the last of the three filaments.

- - - - - -

“Jack?”

Daniel's voice sounded weak and strained. Jack turned around and saw him trying to push himself up onto his elbows. Jack got up from his attempts at unearthing the alien piping, leaving Carter to continue. As he walked towards Daniel, he wiped his hands on his pants, trying to dislodge the sand stuck to his skin.

Daniel had managed to raise his upper torso, but even from several feet away, Jack could tell that the effort was a huge strain on his friend. Even before he reached his friend's side, Daniel had collapsed back onto the ground. He was out of breath, and Jack noted a sheen of sweat on his face.

“Daniel?” Jack asked as he knelt beside him. As Daniel turned his head at the sound of his voice, Jack reached a hand out and pushed away a lock of hair that was sticking to his damp cheek. He never understood why people wanted long hair; it always seemed to be such a pain in the ass to upkeep.

“I feel like I've been trampled over by an army of Jaffa ,” Daniel complained in a panting breath.

“I can imagine,” Jack said as he grabbed a canteen and sat down behind Daniel. “You had some really severe muscular cramps, you're probably gonna be sore for a couple of days. I'll give you some Tylenol in a minute.” He raised the younger man up so he was leaning against his chest. He could feel the younger man's muscles trembling as he tried to help Jack reposition him.

“Ow,” he said, his face contorting in pain. Jack could just imagine how much Daniel was hurting; he'd once had a charlie horse in his leg that had him limping for days. Daniel had experienced the equivalent of one of those over his whole body.

As Jack helped Daniel sip some water, Carter abandoned her work and came to sit beside them.

“Daniel, is that thing painful?” she asked as she examined the alien once more.

“Yeah, it's burning. A lot,” Daniel admitted. Jack frowned; for Daniel to admit he was hurting, it had to be pretty bad.

She nodded to herself and reached over for her pack. Jack saw her take out the syringe that held the remainder of the unused Morphine.

“Carter, is that really necessary?” Jack asked, wondering if she knew something he didn't. She glanced at him as she swabbed Daniel's arm, then looked down at the slug affixed to Daniel's leg. Jack followed her gaze, and realized that the thing had changed in color again. It was now a reddish hue rather than the pinkish one it had been barely an hour ago.

“I think that the drugs are affecting it, sir. They might have been slowing down the bleeding,” she said as she skilfully injected Daniel with another dose of Morphine.

“Bleeding?” Daniel asked, bewildered. He looked up owlishly at Jack, his face scrunching in confusion when he tried to look at himself, searching for an injury. His face twisted in pain as his abused muscles protested. He fell back weakly against Jack, panting. Jack knew it would be a good twenty minutes before Daniel felt any relief from the drug Carter had just administered.

“That thing is sucking the blood from your leg,” Jack explained.

“What?” Daniel exclaimed. He shuddered once, then said quietly, “Ow.”

“There's more blood flow since you woke up, Daniel. The drugs are leaving your system and it stands to reason that they might be affecting that creature too.”

Daniel's grabbed Jack's arms and squeezed tightly. “Ow,” he said more loudly. “Shit, Jack. That hurts.”

“Daniel, what's happening?”

“I don't know, it's….” He strained against Jack, arching his back, his face tight in pain, gasping loudly. “My leg… hurts.”

“Damnit,” Jack swore as he saw Carter removing more syringes from the backpack. God he hoped that that thing wasn't going to cause Daniel the pain it had earlier. He held tightly onto Daniel, who was as tense as a board. His friend was covered in sweat, his muscles trembling with his efforts of holding in the pain.

“I don't think it likes the Morphine,” Carter said, as she waited with Jack to see what would happen. She'd placed a hand on Daniel's leg, the one that was shackled by the creature.

Daniel continued to grit his teeth against the pain, the only sound being his harsh panting. His hands held onto Jack's arms, the pressure of his hold and the trembling of his body being the only other indication of the agony his friend was in.

After several more minutes, Daniel relaxed slightly, his back easing down against Jack's chest, his hands now simply gripping and not squeezing. Jack noticed that the creature was turning once more towards a pinkish shade, and he hoped that meant that the Morphine was affecting it and causing the blood sucking varmint to ease up on Daniel. Jack removed one hand from under Daniel's grip and rubbed it up and down Daniel's arm, noting that the material of his tee-shirt was soaked with sweat.

Carter dampened one of Daniel's bandannas and used it to wipe the sweat from his face. He opened his eyes at the touch, and closed them again, obviously exhausted. He continued to relax over the next few minutes, either the Morphine was easing the pain or the creature had stopped whatever it had been doing to him.

Daniel now appeared so comfortable that Jack thought he'd fallen asleep, and was startled when Daniel spoke up.

“Jack, can you hand me my journal?” He raised his arm and waved in the direction of the tiled wall. Jack glanced around, and saw said book lying somewhat trampled a few feet away. Daniel had obviously dropped it when he'd thrown himself at Jack when he had triggered the trap.

“Daniel, you need to rest,” Sam said chidingly.

“No. I need to finish that translation so we know exactly what's happening here,” Daniel argued. “There may be more of these things waiting to jump out at us. Maybe that,” he waved at the wall, “will give us an idea of what to look out for.” Jack agreed with Daniel, they needed to know what this place was, and hopefully the writings on the wall would tell them that. But Carter was also right, Daniel needed to rest. Jack sighed, and motioned for Carter to retrieve the book. He had to look out for the whole team, not just the one injured member.

She got up and picked it up, slapping it a few times against her leg in order to dislodge the grains of sand that were stuck to it. By the set of her face, Jack could tell that she wasn't happy. She also picked up the pen that had been hidden underneath the book.

Daniel shifted, trying to sit up straighter. Jack helped him, continuing to act as Daniel's backrest. He felt Daniel shiver as the blanket fell off his shoulders and pooled around his legs. Jack pulled the blanket up over Daniel's chest, leaving his arms free. Daniel accepted his pen and journal from Sam, setting both on his lap. Jack handed him his glasses, which had been kept safe in his vest pocket.

“I'll go back and finish digging,” Carter replied, pointing over her shoulder towards the unfinished trench they had made.

Daniel's hand was shaking badly as he attempted to finish reproducing the alien mixture of text into his journal. Jack noted that his handwriting wasn't as clear and precise as the script he had copied earlier. When he dropped the pen for the third time, Jack took it from him and made short work of copying down the weird looking symbols and text.

The weakened man slowly relaxed against Jack, his abused muscles making it difficult for him to remain sitting up on his own. Daniel laid his head back on Jack's shoulder, looking up at the script, mumbling to himself as he tried to make sense of the alien mix.

“Thanks, Jack,” came the soft reply when Jack placed the pen back in Daniel's hand. An occasional shiver would wrack his body, and Jack reached back one handed for a pack, fumbling with it till he managed to remove a second blanket and spread it over Daniel. Daniel continued leaning against Jack, occasionally writing in a word or scratching one out. He'd seen Daniel's incredible mind at work on many an occasion and Jack was very aware that he seemed to be working in slow motion at the moment. Jack hoped that it was merely due to the potent drug that was in Daniel's system, and not to a significant amount of blood loss. They really had no way of knowing how much the creature had stolen from him.

When the pen dropped out of Daniel's hand once more, Jack sighed and picked it up. When Daniel made no move to take it, he looked down and realized that Daniel had fallen asleep. He waited a few more minutes until he was sure that the younger man would stay asleep, and then eased him down onto the sand. He repositioned Carter's jacket back under his head before carding a hand through the long damp locks, pushing them away from Daniel's eyes before removing his glasses. He noted with a bit of alarm that Daniel's skin was somewhat clammy and cool. His pale countenance emphasized the dark circles below his eyes, and even though he was deeply asleep, he didn't look well.

Casting a glare at the living shackle still wound around Daniel's leg, Jack got up stiffly, trying to work the kinks out of his back and legs. Carter had almost finished uncovering the alien conduit, and was only a few feet away from the wall. Jack followed the tubing with his eyes as he made his way to Carter, noting that halfway along, the color changed from pink to a darker red. He could actually see where the flow of Daniel's blood began to ebb.

As they had both suspected would happen, the third filament also merged with the wall. Having learned nothing of value, they returned by Daniel's side to sit and wait.

- - - - - -

Janet Fraiser readjusted the straps on her backpack, trying to make it look as if it was a natural action. She was out of breath, her legs were burning and her back ached with the weight of the medical supplies that she was lugging in her pack. If she hadn't known that the situation could be as dire as Teal'c had explained, she would have asked for him to slow down for a bit.

It was a five mile trek to the ancient tomb that SG1 had been exploring. She should be grateful that the Jaffa hadn't insisted that they run. As it was, SG2 was moving at a very fast clip, and Janet's shorter legs were having trouble keeping up with all the six feet plus personnel.

It was with a great sense of relief when they arrived at the now sealed-off crypt. She could see immense gilded doors shining brightly in the late afternoon sun. The building appeared to have been built inside of a small hill, the doors being situated at the foot of the rise.

As Dr. Dennis Conners, the archaeologist who had been assigned to SG2 on this rescue mission, began to study the symbols on the door, Janet lowered her backpack to the ground. She stretched her aching muscles, hoping that they wouldn't have too long a wait. She retrieved the small cooler from Captain Jenkins, thanking him for having taken the trouble to carry it for her. She set the container beside her pack, checking quickly to make sure the vital contents were as she had packed them.

She watched Teal'c as he stood by supervising the nervous archaeologist. He stood stiffly beside the man, and she smiled to herself when he finally asked Teal'c to move out of his light. SG2 were busy setting up a perimeter watch, and she realized suddenly that those immense doors were not about to be opened soon.

“Teal'c, you're sure that there's no other way in there?” she asked as he walked by her.

She was certain that he was going to say no, but instead he looked her up and down critically before he answered, “I believe that there may be another entrance, but you may not be agreeable to it.”

“Show me and let me decide,” she answered flippantly. Before she knew it, the Jaffa had grabbed the cooler and said, “Please follow me, DoctorFraiser.” Even though his voice was curt, she knew that he meant no disrespect. She took a deep breath and forced her tired body to follow after him.

They made their way around the crypt till Teal'c found a spot that he deemed acceptable. It was a rough climb, but with her companion carrying some of her supplies, she was able to keep up with him.

Ten minutes later found them walking on what she presumed was the ceiling of the ancient building.

“DoctorFraiser, please take care, the structure may not be sound,” Teal'c warned as they circumvented several small cracks. He led her to a large hole in the ceiling, where he knelt to look down into the depths of the building.

As she looked past Teal'c's shoulder down into the hole and into the dim interior, Teal'c called Colonel O'Neill's name. She smiled as she heard the surprised man answer back below her. Movement off to the side caught her attention. The Colonel was walking up to them, head tilted back, with a large grin pasted on his face.

“Teal'c, buddy. Glad you decided to come back.”

“SG2 and Doctor Conners are attempting to open the doors as we speak. I regret that their endeavours will take some time. DoctorFraiser is here with me now. How is DanielJackson?”

“Doc? You there?” came the pleased voice.

“In the flesh, Colonel,” she answered back, moving forward slightly as Teal'c moved back to allow her some room.

“Look, Daniel's not doing so great. He's had a really rough time, and now some damn … thing … is sucking his blood.”

Janet swore softly. She had hoped that Teal'c had been wrong in his assumption. She could hear the strain in the man's voice; she needed to get down to her patient, and fast.

“Yes, Teal'c already explained about the test. Sir, I need to get to Daniel. There's no other way inside, is there?”

“DoctorFraiser,” Teal'c interrupted. “I shall lower you down,” he said, indicating the hole in the ceiling.

“Through there?” she squeeked, estimating that they were at least 30 feet high. She eyed the gap, knowing that although it would be a tight squeeze, she could probably fit through it.

“I would not drop you,” Teal'c said.

“I know, and I trust you with my life, Teal'c,” she answered, smiling at the man's serious countenance. She leaned over the hole and yelled down to the Colonel. ‘Sir, Teal'c will lower me down through this hole. I have medical supplies with me.”

She saw Teal'c remove a coil of rope from his pack and quickly wrapped it around the cooler and her backpack. He lowered the supplies down to the Colonel, who handed them over to Sam. Janet smiled down at her friend who had been presumably sitting with Daniel.

She stood still as Teal'c tied the rope around her legs and under her arms, harness-like. Sitting down with her feet dangling into the gap, she slowly lowered herself, feeling the tension of the rope holding her securely. She looked up a last time and smiled at Teal'c, trying not to show her nervousness. He smiled at her, and she knew that he wouldn't let her fall.

She looked around as she was speedily lowered to the ground, spotting Daniel lying not far from the ornate doors. Colonel O'Neill helped her step out of the loops of rope and escorted her to the injured man.

Her first assumption on seeing him was that he was breathing rapidly, his skin was pale and felt cool and clammy to the touch. His pulse was thready and weak. She glanced at the pinkish thing wrapped around Daniel's leg, intending to examine it later.

“Daniel,” she called, keeping a hand on his cheek. “Daniel, wake up.” Her efforts were rewarded and he opened his bleary eyes. He blinked a few times before peering at her in confusion.

“Janet?” he asked, his voice showing his confusion. “Are we home?”

“Sorry, no. I just made a house call,” she joked as she took out a penlight and flashed it into his eyes. Good, pupils responsive, albeit slightly dilated. His mucus membranes were pale, she noted as she pulled down slightly on his lower eyelid.

“Ah, that makes me feel so tingly inside,” he answered. He tried to sit up and Colonel O'Neill was there in a flash, helping Daniel up and sliding his body underneath to support him.

“Are we leaving?” he asked as he laid his head back against his friend.

“Not quite yet,” Jack replied, rubbing his arm in a soothing manner.

As she wrapped the BP monitor around his arm, she saw three discarded syringes lying a few feet away. Sam must have seen her glance at them, because she spoke in an almost apologetic voice.

“We had to give Daniel some Valium and Morphine…” she started.

“No, you must not!” Teal'c's voice echoed strangely in the large, empty chamber. “Any substance given to the subject will be absorbed by the Ghor'ad. It will in all probability nullify the trial and the creature will terminate it prematurely. ColonelO'Neill, it will without doubt kill DoctorJackson.”

“Damn it, Teal'c. It's too late. We've been pumping Daniel full of drugs for the past five hours!” She saw the Colonel wipe his face with the palms of his hands in frustration.

Janet busied herself with taking Daniel's blood pressure, frowning at the results of 70/40. It was much lower than she would have liked.

“Sir, there's definitely significant blood loss and he's shocky. I'd like to start a transfusion and some fluids.” At his nod, she removed the O-Negative blood from the cooler and a liter bag of Normal Saline from her pack, placing the ice pack back over the remaining bags of blood. She quickly untangled the various IV tubings and deftly inserted a catheter in the antecubital area of Daniel's right arm after swabbing it with a sterile wipe.

As she prepared the back of his hand for the Normal Saline, she kept an eye out for transfusion reaction because there was no chance of cross typing and matching the blood to Daniel's. Sam jury rigged a hook and hung the bags from a broken tiles on the wall.

Both IVs were set to run wide open. Daniel began to shiver and complained of feeling cold.

“Sam, tell me why you had to give Daniel those drugs,” Janet asked as she removed a woollen blanket from her backpack and covered him up with it.

“He had intense muscular cramps when the Colonel tried to remove the slug,” she explained. “When the Valium didn't do the trick, we added the Morphine.”

“Are you sure it wasn't a seizure,” Janet asked, trying to diagnose the symptoms.

“Positive. Daniel was awake throughout and … the pain was terrible, Janet,” she continued in a low voice. “It was only a little while ago that we realized that that thing was taking his blood.”

Janet looked at Sam and saw the concern in her face. “You did good, Sam,” she said softly, laying a hand on the woman's shoulder. Sam smiled weakly at her, her relief obvious at having a doctor on hand.

After a few minutes, she took Daniel's pulse and blood pressure again when the bag of blood was nearly depleted. Good, his pulse was still fast but stronger, and his pressure was beginning to come up. She replaced the second bag of blood with another, setting it to run for an hour.

Watching carefully once more for a reaction to the blood, she relaxed slightly when Daniel's vitals remained constant.

“What did you call that thing, Teal'c?” the Colonel asked as Janet removed another liter of Saline from her pack to replace the nearly depleted one.

“It is a Ghor'ad, O'Neill. An ancient creature that I believed to be legend. The tales said in the early years, when the Goa'uld wished to choose Jaffa , they would go to a temple on a planet known only to them, and put likely subjects to the test. Those who were the strongest, the fittest and the most intelligent survived.”

Janet saw Daniel look around, presumably searching for the Jaffa . His eyes widened when he finally spotted the rope hanging from the ceiling. He turned to look at her, and she nodded, smiling gently. She was pleased to see him looking a little more alert.

“That's what the writing on the wall says, Jack,” Daniel said tiredly. “Lucky me, I get to see if I'm Jaffa material.”

“You got my vote, Daniel,” his friend said. Daniel smiled crookedly as he looked back towards the hanging rope.

“Can we get out through there, Janet?” he asked.

Janet shook her head. “Maybe Sam could squeeze through the hole in the ceiling, but it was a tight enough fit for me. You and the Colonel would never get through it.” The bag of Saline was now empty and she replaced it with the fresh one, setting this one to run for four hours.

“And there's the other problem of that little vampire attached to Danny's leg,” O'Neill pointed out.

“Can't we just chop it off,” Janet asked, taking Daniel's pulse, satisfied with what she found.

“That will ensure DanielJackson's death,” Teal'c replied.

“Oh joy,” the Colonel intoned.

“It must disengage of its own volition. It is part of the test. Presumably when it has ingested enough blood, it will provide a clue to the next stage.”

Happy with the progress of her patient, Janet moved her attention to his leg. With the Colonel's help, they managed to lift it high enough so that she could get a good look at the alien. She noted a deep red mark inside the creature, on the underside of Daniel's leg where it had been lying in the sand.

“What's this,” she asked, pointing out the blotch.

“It looks like some of those symbols,” Sam said, pointing to a dozen which had been painted onto the edge of the tiled wall. Janet peered at them, realizing that indeed, the mark on the slug resembled an unfinished symbol. She suddenly suspected that they had found their first clue. They just had to wait for the symbol to fill up, and they'd know which of the twelve it would be.

“Teal'c, you said that the creature would absorb the drugs in Daniel's system. Is there a time limit to this test?”

“I believe so, DoctorFraiser, although I do not know what it is.”

“Then we have no time to lose,” she said as she took out another bag of blood. Hoping she was right, she pricked it with one of the discarded needles, allowing some of the red fluid to leak out. Motioning for Sam to grab hold of the bags of fluid which she'd hung earlier, she waited until the woman had them in hand. Janet dripped a few drops of blood onto the creature, and was rewarded by seeing the edges ripple outwards. She laid the bag of blood on the sand beside Daniel's leg, and jumped back as the creature suddenly disengaged itself from Daniel and quickly surrounded the bag.

Seeing that Daniel was finally free, Jack grabbed his friend and dragged him several dozen feet away. They all distanced themselves from the slug, now happily feeding on the bag of blood.

- - - - - -

Daniel shivered uncontrollably with relief as Jack dragged him away from the voracious creature. He hadn't realized how much pain it had been inflicting until it had unfastened itself from around his leg. Spots of blood began oozing through his pant legs, surprising Daniel as to the numerous teethmarks it had left.

Jack propped him up against the far wall and Daniel pressed his head back against the stone. It felt good just knowing that he could move around again and not remain confined in one spot. Janet quickly cut his pant leg and with a warning, poured disinfectant over the bleeding wounds. He yelled in surprise at the stinging, he'd expected the pain, but it still caught him by surprise. He saw a multitude of pinholes going all way around his lower leg as the blood was washed away. Janet quickly bound it up and tucked the blanket over and around his legs.

Daniel was beginning to feel a little better since Janet had come. He was still very tired and his body was excruciatingly stiff and painful, but that bone weariness he'd been experiencing was gone.

Jack squeezed his shoulder as he got up, and Daniel watched him skirt the alien as he made his way back towards Teal'c. Daniel winced as he tried to make himself a little more comfortable. His whole body felt like one massive bruise.

“Anything else you can tell us about this test,” Jack yelled up to Teal'c.

“Jack pressed the glyph for Earth,” Daniel imparted, hoping his voice would carry. “I would assume that whatever comes next, the questions and answers would be focused on Ra.”

As Jack turned to Daniel in surprise, Teal'c's disembodied voice sounded. “DanielJackson is correct. You must bear in mind that Ra is the Goa'uld you have chosen as your God in this trial, so you must respond accordingly.”

“Ra's dead,” Jack said to nobody in particular.

“Yeah, but the computer, or whatever that's conducting this test, doesn't know that,” Daniel said.

“I'm going to give you something to help relax your muscles, Daniel,” Janet said as she fiddled with the IV. Daniel nodded distractedly, listening for Teal'c's explanation.

“There will most likely be one, possibly two more challenges. You have just undergone the test of endurance, DanielJackson. The next may be one of skills, intelligence, faith, or even possibly loyalty.”

“How will we know?” Sam questioned as she approached the alien cautiously. She stayed several feet away, keeping an eye on it. Daniel presumed she was watching to see how fast it would consume the blood. He shivered, thinking that it might have bled him dry.

“You will know once the next challenge is begun. There is yet another thing to keep in mind. The trial may be set for a group, or for an individual. Be aware that you may be pitted one against the other. In any case, DanielJackson is the one who has made the challenge, at any point when a request for identification is demanded, it must be he who answers. If not, it will be assumed that he has not survived, and the test has failed and you will in all likelihood be killed. There is one more thing, O'Neill. The mechanisms of this place are very old. Many may not be operational. This may affect the results of the test. Be prepared for anything.”

“Teal'c, buddy. You think there's any chance of enlarging that hole up there,” Jack asked, obviously not liking Teal'c's version of the house rules. “Maybe a little C4, wouldn't take much, just a couple of inches all around.”

Daniel didn't think it was a good idea; the explosion would probably take the roof down. Teal'c obviously was on the same wavelength as Daniel when his answer came echoing down the room.

“The structure is unsound, O'Neill. I fear the explosive may cause it to collapse on top of you.”

“Yeah, kinda what I thought,” Jack said softly.

“I can do this, Jack,” Daniel said, not wanting his friends to risk their lives, and knowing that with his knowledge of Egyptian lore, he'd probably breeze through whatever questions there were to answer.

ON TO PART TWO >>

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